Nuria Fernandez named new general manager of VTA

(photo courtesy VTA /2013)
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors has appointed Nuria Fernandez as the next General Manager for VTA. The selection was made after an extensive nationwide search and 10-month recruitment process.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has new hands on the wheel.

The VTA board of directors has appointed Nuria Fernandez as the public transportation agency's general manager.

The decision comes after a long nationwide search and 10-month recruitment process. A selection committee comprised of five VTA board members presented its recommendation to the full board at a meeting earlier this month.

Fernandez's official start date will be in early December. She takes over for general manager Michael Burns, who announced his retirement late last year.

"The primary concern in our search was to find a candidate possessing the qualities that would continue the forward progress that VTA experienced in the eight-plus years Michael dedicated to the organization," Joe Pirzynski, VTA board chairman, said in a press statement.

"We have concluded our search and are very pleased with our selection of Nuria Fernandez. She is an individual who possesses the personal and professional characteristics that we know will move VTA forward. We are excited to have Nuria take this leadership position with VTA."

Fernandez has more than 30 years of experience in the transportation field and a career that includes planning, design and construction of mass transit systems, airport operations and policy development of federal transportation programs.

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Fernandez most recently served as the chief operating officer for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where she was responsible for the overall security of the MTA system, development of its capital and environmental sustainability programs, federal and state government affairs, and management oversight of the five operating agencies and its capital construction, according to VTA.

Other accomplishments include managing the operations of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, providing policy and program expertise at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and managing the design and construction of multibillion dollar rail expansion programs in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Fernandez holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Bradley University and a master's in business administration from Roosevelt University in Illinois. She serves on the board of directors of the American Public Transportation Association, Mineta Transportation Institute's board of trustees, the advisory board of Bradley University's College of Engineering and Technology, and is a member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and the Women's Transportation Seminar, according to VTA.

"I am excited about this new opportunity to lead an organization that is on track to change the public transportation landscape in Silicon Valley forever, and my experience working in the industry, both public and private, has positioned me for the challenges that come with this great responsibility," Fernandez said in a press statement.

For more information about the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, visit vta.org.